It was a strong showing on the night from the major supermarkets and the discounters, with products from Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, The Co-operative, Aldi and Lidl all receiving awards.

Commenting on this year’s awards, event organiser Helen Lyons said: “Never before has there been so much angst, sweat and tears over which pork pie, chocolate dessert or chicken tikka masala walks away with a coveted Q award. Have we ever had a more competitive high street for grocery shopping?

“Have the stakes ever been higher to make sure the products in your stores are the ones your customers are not only going to buy once, but come back and purchase time and time again?

“For nearly 40 years the Quality Food Awards has stood as the benchmark for brand development and grocery retailing not only in the UK, but around the world.

“Winning a Quality Food Award is an outstanding achievement – it means that a product has been judged to be the very best in its category or field by renowned industry experts. Now that is something to really shout about.”

Tesco’s chief product officer Jason Tarry said: “With Christmas just around the corner, I’m incredibly proud of the recognition we have received for our festive offer thanks to the fantastic efforts of our team.

“The Q Awards not only look at the taste, but also the value and quality of the ingredients and are an endorsement for all the hard work we have done in partnership with our suppliers to help provide our customers with the very best food and drink products.”